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Went back to the pond at work Saturday...

Got out early from work on Saturday, so I grabbed my 8wt and hit up the pond again. This time, I'm glad I grabbed it, as the wind was typical Okie strong.

Started out with a deer hair bass bug, but didn't get any takers. Switched over to a little popper to see if any of the sunnies wanted to play. Let the rig drift a little to long on a dead drift with the wind, and my furled leader and flouro tippet submerged. As I brought it in to make another cast, the pole loaded up on something nice and heavy. It felt like a dead weight, no movement, but it was tracking off to the left very, VERY slowly. I thought it was a good-sized stick, snagged somewhere on the side. Finally, it broke the surface, and it wasn't a stick! Got something to add to the "weird catch with a fly rod" file:

First time I've caught a Snapping Turtle since I was a kid! This was a really upset Snapper! It stuck that long neck out at least once, maybe twice, trying to bend around and bite my popper. Ain't no way, no how, that I'm sticking my hand anywhere near the business end of that thing! Luckily, the popper pulled loose a couple seconds later. There isn't anything in here for scale (I ain't sticking my foot anywhere near it either!), but it was about 12" across the shell.

I did a little casting, and several minutes later, made a really nice, tight, cast within inches of the cattails. It set there for just a second or two when "something" made a really splashy grab for the bug and took off hard to my right. I even got a glimpse of it, and it looked like a Bass. It shook its head, ran, pulled, and finally hit the top. T'wernt no Bass, but a BIG Hybrid Sunnie! Gotta love them things: